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From a fisherman's perspective, we find that small sucker minnows (4-6 inches in length) stay on the hook better than other baits when tend to get soft quickly. UPDATED 08 FEBRUARY 2023. by Robert Ceran. The biggest mistake we see anglers making when it comes to jigging for lake trout is not using rods/reels that are adequate for the task. Everyone that goes fishing wants to know what the best lure is to catch the species they are currently targeting. BPS has tails like that you can thread onto your jig hook. I like to use around 6 feet of 8- to 10-pound test leader. As a general rule, you can assume the thermocline is approximately 30 feet down in June and 35 to 40 feet down the rest of the summer. Cotton would slow down the dispersal of any scent you used. Reefs that top out in more shallow water may hold fish, but the water temperature tends to be too warm to hold adult sized lake trout. Probably one of the best and most well-known brands for tube jigs is Berkley powerbait. The best lake trout jigging lures to use are extra large jigging spoons and tube jigs (all the way up to 6 oz. Paige Romanack caught this impressive lake trout deep water jigging during the dog days of summer. While most tackle shops in the Great Lakes region won't stock these rods, they can be mail ordered from the bigger mass merchants.
Another consideration is most fishing jurisdictions let you have more than one line in the water when ice fishing. Again if you stick to lighter colors such as white or silver this should produce. Lake trout are awesome fighters when caught on light tackle. It is my go-to lure. You may find them in much shallower water as winter progresses.
Fishing conditions can change and as far as the Fisher looking for so it always pays to have other options. If you notice that lake trout are hunting very large bait fish (such as full size herring, ciscoes or whitefish), it often helps to upsize your presentation. I find the pearl/white or Chartreuse work equally well. The easiest way is to use a fish finder in conjunction with a depth chart. The typical walleye or bass spinning rod is not going to be stiff enough to adequately handle baits in the 3/4 to two ounce range. You can fish any color you want, but day in and day out, white or pearl is going to produce the most bites.
I made some up on 1 1/2" tubes in white and brown. The rigs described here don't include lake trout trolling rigs, which are covered in a separate article. Rapala jigging rap series are an excellent ice fishing lure. 1/16 OUNCE RIGGED WITH MUSTAD SICKLE HOOKS.
When to use it: This is a great all around rig to use for lake trout fishing, since it's so easy to set up, and you can have it in the water in next to no time. 4 treble hook on a 20 pound test leader of fluorocarbon line makes the perfect stinger hook set up. Jigging raps come in several different sizes the W 7 size ( 7 centimeters or just under 3 in) is ideal for targeting lake trout. You can even Jig with your standard five of diamonds or red devil type spoon but specifically for ice fishing the Slender spoons are a much better choice. The dog days of summer are the perfect conditions for deep water jigging. How to use it: If you're driving around a new lake on a boat, and spot some promising signals on your fish finder, drop down your jigging rig and see if you can get them to bite. I was first introduced to this method in 1973 by a friend who had become adept using it on Lake Seymore in Vermont. These are the same rods we use for fishing heavy jigs on the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers when targeting walleye. This can also be tipped with some minnow or smelt to add extra scent to attract large trout. Make sure they lay flat in the water, you will need to adjust your knot frequently.
With the high water this year, pay special attention to shoreline features and structure for the early morning bite in the shallows. A good friend made it for me several years ago by shaping a piece of copper tubing into a killer lure. These tenticles flutter in the water as the lure rises and falls. For more info please check out, or our Instagram pages.
It's hellishly effective. I don't catch as many as some here do, but I catch enough to know it isn't a HUGE difference. I don't know why but this sometimes works well when fish are being marked and but won't bite. There are lots of different colour options for the jigging rap.